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Abbott: no more tobacco money

MARK COLVIN: It's the end of a lucrative stream of income for the Liberal Party: Tony Abbott's ordered his party to stop accepting donations from tobacco companies.

The unexpected pledge to distance his party from Big Tobacco is seen as a bid to fend off attacks from the Prime Minister. Mr Abbott announced the change as he unveiled the Coalitions' health policy - which can be summed up as a promise not to decrease funding for the sector.

Samantha Hawley is travelling with Mr Abbott this week.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Tony Abbott's made a move that Liberal leaders have long resisted. And for the party's bottom line it's very significant.

TONY ABBOTT: I do what is right in the interests of our nation. I don't simply listen to people who may or may not have donated money to my political party.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: As he stood in a conference room at the St Vincent's Hospital to announce his health policy, Mr Abbott was asked about Kevin Rudd's pledge to end all political association with tobacco companies.

His answer came as a true surprise.

TONY ABBOTT: I've instructed the Liberal Party to accept no further donations from tobacco companies.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: But why now?

TONY ABBOTT: Look, I don't want Mr Rudd's distractions. Mr Rudd's going to run a distraction a day, he is going to run a distraction a day, and I don't want furphies like this to distract people's attention from the main issues of this campaign.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: The Government's demanding Mr Abbott give back $2 million received from tobacco giants in the last decade.

TONY ABBOTT: I will gladly ask the Liberal Party to refund money from tobacco companies when Mr Rudd refunds the Health Services Union subventions to the Labor Party. That's I think a fair deal.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Mr Abbott's decision neutralises this as an issue, and he's tried to dent another Labor attack as well.

Mr Abbott's promised that health funding will not reduce under any Coalition government.

TONY ABBOTT: The overall levels of health funding will be maintained.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Instead the key to the policy is to move money around within the heath sector - away from bureaucracy onto the front line.

Mr Abbott wouldn't say how many public service jobs will go.

TONY ABBOTT: But I want to make it absolutely crystal clear: there will be no fewer nurses, no fewer doctors.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: And the Opposition Leader has pledged restore the public health insurance rebate as soon as possible but wouldn't commit to doing that in a first term of a Coalition government.

TONY ABBOTT: I'm not making a commitment to do so at this time. I simply want to restore it as quickly as we can.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: The health policy does include $340 million in funding which will be covered by money saved from public service cuts.

A Coalition government will bring forward the rollout of the national bowel cancer screening programme for older Australians.

There'd be 500 additional nursing training scholarships, and $52 million to expand existing general practices for teaching.

And Mr Abbott has confirmed Labor's Medicare locals could be under threat.

TONY ABBOTT: Can I say that absolutely no Medicare local will close? I'm not going to say that.

SAMANTHA HAWLEY: At the Saint Vincent Hospital in Malcolm Turnbull's seat of Wentworth, PM spoke randomly to voters as they walked in.

VOX POP: Yep, Tony Abbott.

VOX POP II: No.

VOX POP III: No, not for me.

VOX POP IV: Well for a very young, wealthy country, Australia's health policy is absolutely atrocious. And it's respective governments.

VOX POP V: Well I just hope Tony gets in, that's all I hope and pray for.